What was the wedding of the ancient emperor like?

The emperor must enter the "bridal chamber" to get married. Different from the folk custom that the new house is a new house, the new house where the emperor got married is not in his bedroom, and there is no fixed new house. Usually he will find a room for temporary use in the place where the ceremony is held.

How much bride price did the emperor send to his father-in-law's family?

In order to marry a daughter-in-law, the emperor will also give a bride price to his father-in-law.

Giving bride price is human nature and a popular custom in ancient China, and it has not been cancelled today. However, there are still some differences. In ancient times, when people came to propose marriage, they all wanted the woman's "eight characters". When they get engaged, the normal gift is a goose, which is called a "wedding". Send it out, then use the goose. "It used to be popular to send gold and silver, but now precious metal jewelry is more upscale, such as platinum.

Of course, the emperor's bride price will not be delivered in person like the folk, but will choose people around him as temporary "deacons" as messengers, usually served by officials with equal status. When the gift comes, read The Talented Book.

In the Ming Dynasty, the deacons would say, "I am committed to heaven, respect great plans, learn the way of the country, and put my family first." The relationship between husband and wife means Gankun. In fact, with the respect of ancestors and the sincerity of support, capital is heavy and we act according to the orders of the Queen Mother. Send envoys to hold festivals as a gift. "

In the Qing Dynasty, the deacons would say, "The emperor honored the imperial edict of the Empress Dowager, and took bamboo slips as his successor, and ordered Qing and others to hold a ceremony and pay the Mark Six Lottery."

The bride price of the emperor is a real gift to the emperor's father-in-law. For example, in the Han Dynasty, gold alone reached more than 10,000 Jin. When Herry Liu, Emperor Huan of the Eastern Han Dynasty, married the daughter of a powerful minister, he followed the example of filial piety Hui Di, saying that "the bride price is 20,000 Jin, and the horse and silk are like the old code", and the gift was doubled.

In fact, in every process of completing the "Six Gifts", the emperor's family will send a bride price. For example, during the "Great Expedition" of the Qing Emperor's wedding, there were 220 taels of gold, 220 taels of silver 12000 taels, one gold tea set, two silver tea sets, two silver pots, various colors of silks and satins 1000 pieces, and 20 horses with full saddles.

It can be seen that even if the emperor wants to get married more, it is not so casual and it costs a lot of money. According to Weng Tonghe's diary, the wedding of Emperor Guangxu in Qing Dynasty cost 5.5 million taels of silver.

Will the emperor come to marry the bride?

In folk marriages, it is customary for the groom to wear big red flowers and personally follow the wedding procession to marry the bride. Will the emperor go when he gets married?

The emperor also has a wedding ceremony, but he doesn't go in person, but sends suitable courtiers and sometimes his wife's family to his door.

When the official who greeted the bride arrived, he would read the emperor's words, "This book is for an official's daughter to be the queen, and ordered the young people to hold a festival and present a treasure book to greet her."

At this time, the bride should quickly put on the wedding dress prepared by the emperor-the queen's crown dress. Like the folk, the bride will be invited again before leaving the house and entering the palace with the wedding team. I don't know whether the bride will get married in tears. I don't think she will cry. It's too late to be happy

But one thing remains the same, that is, before the bride gets on the sedan chair to collect books, parents will also tell her daughter to be a good wife. According to the Book of Rites of Ming Dynasty, in the Ming Dynasty, the old saying was that the father said, "Respect it, and the night cannot be violated." Mother: "I respect it. There is no violation of the night. "

The wedding room of the emperor is not fixed.

The emperor must enter the "bridal chamber" to get married. Different from the folk custom that the new house is a new house, the new house where the emperor got married is not in his bedroom, and there is no fixed new house. Usually he will find a room for temporary use in the place where the ceremony is held.

The marriage of emperors in Ming and Qing dynasties was generally held in Kunning Palace. Kunning Palace is the third of the last three palaces in the Forbidden City. In the Ming dynasty, this was the queen's bedroom. In the Qing Dynasty, two rooms in the east were designated as the wedding rooms of the emperor, and five rooms in the west were changed into shrines of shamanism. The Qing emperor was very grand and particular about marrying his wife. The bride will be carried into the Qing Gate, pass through Tiananmen Square and Wumen Gate, and finally reach the harem. When concubines enter the palace, they can only take the Shenwumen at the back door of the Forbidden City.

Empress Dowager Cixi, as the queen of Tianhou Palace in the late Qing Dynasty, failed to walk through the Qing Gate, which became a lifelong pain in her heart. Cixi was just a concubine at first. On 185 1, she was elected as a female convent in the palace and was made your wife. Being favored by Emperor Xianfeng, 1854 made her a concubine. Although the mother loved her son, and her own son Zai Chun later became the emperor, this did not change her marriage history with Xianfeng. So, later, the daughter-in-law of Tongzhi Queen Arut angered Empress Dowager Cixi with one sentence-"The slave was brought in from the Qing Dynasty". Shortly after Tongzhi's death, Cixi forced her to commit suicide.

What is the emperor's bridal chamber like?

The emperor's bridal chamber is much more luxurious than ordinary people's houses, but it is also inevitable to post double happiness couplets and festive couplets.

The theme of the bridal chamber is also big red, forming a beaming and jubilant atmosphere. There will be "hundred curtains" and "hundred quilts" in front of the bed, which means that different expressions are embroidered on the curtains and quilts of 100 children; There are curtains embroidered with red silk and dragons and phoenixes on the bedside, and the royal family also hopes that "many children will be blessed".

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the emperor's bridal chamber was carpeted with multiple barriers. There are curtains around the bed of the dragon and phoenix, so the bridal chamber is very private.

In the Qing Dynasty, the bridal chamber was generally located in the East Warm Pavilion of Kunning Palace, and the walls were decorated with red lacquer, silver and tung oil. In front of the bridal chamber hung a double-happiness palace lantern. On the gilded Dahongmen, there is a double happiness of gold powder. There is a cursive word "shou" above the door, and a long couplet on the wall next to the door falls straight to the ground. From the main entrance of Kunning Palace to the entrance of Dongnuange, in the corridor on the east side outside the bridal chamber, a red wooden shadow wall stands, which means to marry the emperor and "open the door and see happiness".

The golden treasure in the bridal chamber is resplendent and magnificent. There are two rooms in Dongnuange, with the emperor's throne on the north wall in the east and the jade handle symbolizing "auspiciousness" on the right hand side. There is a big kang on the front eaves, with red sandalwood carving dragons and phoenixes on both sides, porcelain bottles, jewelry and other furnishings on the kang, and a pair of double happiness desk lamps on the left side in front of the kang.

In the northwest corner of Dongnuange, there is a bed of dragons and phoenixes. The hi-bed is covered with a thick red silk double hi-word kang mattress, and the bedding includes bright yellow satin, vermilion satin hi-quilt and hi-pillow, with exquisite patterns, fine embroidery and incomparable wealth. There is a festive couplet hanging on the wall in the bed, with a picture of peony flowers in the middle and a pair of treasure cabinets against the wall.

Now that the Forbidden City is open, you can have a chance to see the emperor's "bridal chamber".

Would the emperor and the bride like a toast?

The emperor's bridal chamber is naturally quiet, but etiquette is indispensable. What should the emperor do first when he enters the bridal chamber? In the folk, the bride and groom may get impatient as soon as they enter the bridal chamber and go straight to the subject-going to bed. The emperor can't. You have to finish all the activities to get a good sleep.

According to the article "The Emperor Accepts the Empress" in the Book of Rites and Music in the New Tang Dynasty, the wedding of the emperor and empress in the Tang Dynasty is quite complicated. After entering the bridal chamber, you should first worship the gods and pay tribute to heaven, earth and ancestors. In fact, this kind of worship activity began before entering the bridal chamber. If you want to enter the same prison, there will be different kinds of worship activities in the days after marriage.

There is a dining table under the west window of the new landlord's room. There are beans, baskets, baskets and bowls in front of the table, which means the same as the folk saying "eat a pot of rice in the future". After entering the bridal chamber, a sacrificial ceremony was held before the wedding ceremony, and the couple sacrificed together.

Every time there is a sacrifice, the couple will have a meal together, so that they will be full and not hungry before going to bed. Because drinking a little wine can also adjust the interests of both parties in place, which is also a means of flirting before going to bed.

The so-called "wedding ceremony" is what people call "drinking a glass of wine". "Same prison" means that husband and wife eat cooked livestock meat together, such as a pig; "Right" is to combine the cut pieces into one, which was used to hold wine in ancient times. It is "combination" to mix the wine in the jars of the emperor and the queen. This toast is not to drink each other's glasses at a modern wedding, but to drink the mixed wine. The current form of drinking toast should be the product of building a new house.

Of course, after the ceremony, that is, after drinking the toast, what should we do next? Everyone who has been married should know-go to bed. But when the emperor is the groom's official, you can't just go to bed, you have to order first. The emperor of the Tang Dynasty slept like this:

Shang Yi knelt to the north and said, "After the ceremony, Xing." Both the emperor and the queen are prosperous. Go to the palace to introduce the emperor into the East Room, issue a coronation suit, and serve the royal suit; Go to the palace to lead the queen into the country and take off her clothes. Go to the palace to attract the emperor into the palace. I still have a thorough meal. It's located in the East Room, just like before. The queen followed the emperor, and the emperor waited for the queen.

As can be seen from the above, after drinking a glass of wine, the emperor was taken to the room by the sleeping imperial secretary, took off his coronation suit and put on plain clothes; The queen was first introduced into the tent by the imperial secretary, who took off her dress first, led the emperor to wear plain clothes and slept in a bed with the queen, and lived in peace.

In the Qing dynasty, the emperor paid more attention to the wedding before going to bed. The Qing emperor was Manchu, believing in Shamanism, but he also had to worship the gods, such as crossing the brazier. Go to the shrine next to the west of the bridal chamber to worship a god before going to bed. The sacrificial ceremony was presided over by an old shaman.

Shortly after the queen entered the bridal chamber, the emperor was also dressed in robes and auspicious clothes, and was sent from Gan Qing Palace to Kunning Palace by Prince Jinzhi. After the towel on the queen's head was removed, the emperor and the queen sat on the bed where the dragon and the phoenix were auspicious, and the female officer of the internal affairs office put a copper pot on the bed, holding the "children's treasure" in a round box. This kind of "children's cake" is a kind of pasta, which is a special kind of small dumplings.

There is also a mattress and banquet table. The princess and the female official respectfully ask the emperor to sit opposite, and Fujin is ready to wait on the wedding banquet. At the wedding reception, the emperor and the queen exchanged drinks and made a toast. At this time, in front of the window outside the temple, a couple of guards sang "Song of Congratulations" in Manchu. Get married and pay the bill. In the evening, Fujin, a female official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, etc. Serve the emperor and then eat longevity noodles. After eating noodles, the following things are needless to say, and enjoy the fun of men and women.